As technology has developed, so have the ways in which viewers obtain video content. Besides pre-recorded video stored on physical mediums delivered to the consumer, viewers can watch video content by means of broadcast television programming, cable television, digital satellite television, or through a host of other transmission channels. With the development of Internet protocol television (IPTV), communication companies are establishing networks for subscribers to watch television programming. Generally, IPTV describes a system where a digital television service is delivered using Internet protocol (IP) over a network. The network used for IPTV may include the public Internet or a private IP network controlled by an IPTV service provider via a broadband connection known as digital subscriber lines (DSL).
In many instances, users may be viewing television programming in a first format on a television channel and be unaware of a provider's ability through IPTV to convert the program to a second, more preferred, format on the same television channel. For example, many networks provide both standard definition and high definition formats through IPTV. A viewer may be watching a program in standard definition and be unaware that the program is simultaneously being provided in high definition on another channel. Additionally, in other situations users may begin viewing a program after the program has already begun and therefore unable to view a segment of the programming.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods for informing and providing viewers the ability to view and purchase programming in other formats.